It's now been more than two weeks since members of the Baker's Dozen, an all-male a cappella singing group from Yale University, allegedly were assaulted after leaving a private house party in San Francisco on New Year's Eve. One student, Sharyar Aziz Jr., had his jaw broken in two places; other members of the group received injuries such as a black eye, sprained ankle, and concussion. Witnesses claim that anti-gay epithets were directed at the singers and that the fight broke out after the group sang the national anthem. The police were called and, according to media reports, several suspects were detained. However, all were released and as of press time no arrests have been made. (Interestingly, the party took place at the Richmond District home of a retired officer and his wife, who is still employed by the department but on leave.)
We are troubled by how the San Francisco Police Department has handled the case and have concerns over the larger issue of the department leadership's sensitivity to issues affecting the LGBT community. The Yale case is merely the latest in a string of high-profile incidents; and in every one, we would argue, Police Chief Heather Fong has not demonstrated effective leadership.
Yale case
Since ABC7 News' Dan Noyes first broke the story January 8, the airwaves, blogosphere, and newspapers around the country have seized upon the story of the Baker's Dozen and have included the fact that no arrests have been made. It was only late last week that SFPD officials traveled to Southern California, where the Baker's Dozen were continuing their tour, to interview members about what happened in San Francisco. The police have tried to downplay the case from the beginning. A spokesman last week characterized the incident as merely a fight, when it seems that from witnesses and media reports, the alleged attackers were waiting for the singers when they left the house party.
We do not understand what apparently is the police department culture to minimize a fight when it involves young men. We saw the most brazen example of this back during the Fajitagate scandal in 2002, when three off-duty officers were accused of beating up two young men. It turned out that the officers had been drinking at a party before the altercation, which they claimed was a dispute over a bag of steak fajitas. That is ridiculous. We have always felt that there were undertones of homophobia: that the officers saw two young men, presumed they were gay, and beat the crap out of them for fun.
That's the way it seems to be stacking up in the Yale case – only this time it's apparently young men from socially connected families who allegedly were involved. Yet the police department – at least initially – did not see this as a serious matter. While Fajitagate occurred years before Fong became police chief, it's clear that she has not yet managed to instill real change within the department when it comes to perceived or actual homophobia.
The Castro
Chief Fong's response to last year's violent Halloween in the Castro was, to say the least, a disappointment. She couldn't even bother to go down to the gay district after shots rang out; it was gay Supervisor Bevan Dufty who was left to speak to the media. Fong really should have gone to the Castro rather than issue a written statement.
She finally did go to the Castro – one month later. On November 30 she popped up to walk the area with district merchants. Unfortunately, no one from SFPD notified the media, and we received one e-mail from the mayor's office literally minutes before the event was to begin. Notably, Fong chose to walk through the Castro on a day when Dufty was out of town; yet the day before, she took part in a merchant walk with new Supervisor Ed Jew in District 4. In contrast, we received a news release about that event, just not the one in District 8. Go figure.
Crime in the Castro has been a concern to many residents over the past several months, since a series of unrelated assaults – including reported rape cases – have occurred. While the beat officers assigned to the Castro have done a great job, members of the community have resorted to starting their own community patrol group to monitor activity in the neighborhood on the weekends. To its credit, SFPD did help in training the volunteers, along with several other community groups.
Yet all of this taken together – the inadequate responses to the Yale case and Halloween, and the recent assault reports – is damaging the city's reputation as a gay friendly mecca. Recently, San Francisco was named the top destination for gay travelers, based on a survey of 2,000 self-identified LGBTs released by the Travel Industry Association of America. Not surprisingly, safety was a priority.
Chief Fong needs to lead by example. And to us, that means thorough and timely investigations of reported incidents – not waiting days or weeks to interview victims. To date, the SFPD's response to the Yale case smacks of defensiveness, a response that should not be part of any professional police department.